Tinsmith AvenueFor those seeking knowledge on past techniques used by yesteryears tinsmiths. The history of Tinsmith goes back in time farther then this place can travel, but for those who want to explore, please share your findings here.

I know of hand riveting being used to fasten metal together but what else was there before we had electricity and drill motors? I remember seeing work that used a ton of pan head screws everywhere and I kept thinking how time consuming that much have been to punch a hole with your awl or drill and screw in the pan heads in by hand.

On that church steeple that I have the pics of, they used a small copper nail and bent it over to hold everything together, as unbelievable as it sounds it's true. I guess they punched a hole or drilled it I have no idea. The nails aren't everywhere but are in a few spots.

Soldering I suppose when the material called for it. I actually keep two old windy hand drills in my box and use them now and again. They eat right through 24 ga. stainless steel. And come in handy if you battery is gone and you only have a few holes.

Are those hand drills that old? I've got a few of those. Once I worked in an old telephone exchange relay building and saw hundreds of pan head screws put in tight down in a long wide but tight shaft and I had to remove all of them by hand. Boss's orders. Made me think of how it was back then without power equipment. Scratch awls and hammers.

It's an egg beater with only one bit though. I collected them at some point in time. Rivet and soldering would have needed those maybe, especially on boilers and locomotives and olden time stuff that doesn't want to exist any more. Saw the news that the world is maybe having a slow down. Go back to hand tools and forget the energy wastage.

The Following User Says Thank You to sharpscriber For This Useful Post:

Egg beater, thanks great description Sharpscriber. Sorry Roofermarc I couldn't recall the proper name. I've had mine for years. What I truly want is one that you can change the gears on to adjust the torgue. Hard to come by though. I've also seen them a couple feet tall with a sort of strap on top for your knee. I figure they must have had hand punches, also like a Whitney Punch. I wonder if they used a punching process similar to what a modern Clinching machine would perform?